Car-coupling.



W. F. CREIVIEAN.

CAR COUPLING.

APPLICATION mw MAR. 6, 191s.

Patented Jan. 28,4919.

3 SHEETS--SHEEII W. F. CREMEAN.

CAR couPLlNG.

I APPLICATON FILED MAR. 5| lgl- 1,292,583. Patented. Jun. 28, 1919.

' 3 EEEEE TS- S H E E 3.

'UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIcE.

WILLIAM F. CREMEAN, OF FRANKFORT, INDIANA.

GAR-COUPLING.

Application filed March 6, 1916.

To all -w/wm it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM F. CREMEAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Frankfort, in the county of Clinton and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Couplings, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to'couplers and particularly to an improved draft coupler for car and locomotive service which conforms in contour and dimensions to the Master Car Builders requirements for couplers for such service.

In the Tower type of draft coupler, which is a car 'coupler now in general use, the shank and guard arm are cast in one piece. As ninety per cent. of the coupler failures are caused by the guard arm becoming broken or distorted, the shank must be scrapped when it becomes necessary to renew the guard arm. Furthermore, it requires additional labor and material in the way of taking down the draft gear, removing the yoke and applying 'the same to thenew coupler.

Since the guard arm is rigid on the shank, on curves it and other parts of the equipment such as the draft rigging and flanges on the wheels, will be subjected to undue strains, and a guard arm integral with the shank is therefore a source of many failures.

To eliminate the above and other disadvantages, I have designed a draft coupling in which the guard arm is readily separable from the shank, the guard arm being preferably connected to the shank by the knuckle pin. By pivoting the guard arm and knuckle on the same pin they will swing as a unit about the knuckle pin when they are locked together. This provides a more iiexible coupling than those now in general use.

A further feature of my invention is to construct the head of the shank with shoulders having walls or faces which coperate with corresponding inner walls or faces on raised portions of the guard arm, whereby the outer or projecting head of the shank, and the guard arm are capable of being slidingly and pivotally connected together and yet prevented from being separated by a force exerted in the line of draft as will be hereinafter more fully described.

A further object and most important feature of my -invention is to so construct the shank with its head, `guard arm, knuckle,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 28, 1919.

serial No. 82,451.

and coperating knuckle pin, so that said knuckle pin is under quadruple shearing forces and so distribute said forces as to uniformly divide the strain on said pin and throughout the guard arm, shank head and knuckle as to reduce to a minimum the danger of failure of the coupler and breaking apart of the train.t

I Ialso aim to provide a novel construction and arrangement of locking key which cooperates with a knuckle having two separated locking arms engaging the key at such sections as to properly distribute the strains on said key and knuckle and throughout the pivotal connections of the gua-rd arm, knuckle and shank head, whereby the different metal sections comprising the coupler can be made of a uniform thickness, thereby insuring a proper pouring and cool ing of the metal during the manufacture of the same, and thereby produce flawless and strong castings most essential in this class of inventions.

The above and other objects and the novel features of my invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying three sheets of drawings in which: 1

Figure l is a top plan view of a pair of mating couplers embodying my invention and shown in coupler relation;

Fig, 2 is a side elevation of one of the couplers shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view along the line III-III of Fig. 2 and showing more particularly the knuckle of the coupler lockcd by the locking pin;

Fig. l is a sectional plan view similar to Fig. 3, but showing the lcoupler in unlocked condition; i

Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view along the line V-V of Fig. 2; showing the knuckle locked by lthe locking pin;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation, similar to Fig. 2, with the shank removed;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the locking key removed from the cou ler with the pawl coperating with the knuc ile shown in dotted lines;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the uncoupling pawl shown in Figs. 3 and 4;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view along the line IX-IX of Fig. 7;

Fig. l0 is a sectional View along the line X-X of Fig. 7;

F 11 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 3, showing the relation of the parts when the locking pin or key is raised and the knuckle is unlocked;

Fig. 12 is a front el vation of one coupler and showing the parts as they appear in Fig. 1l;

Figs. 13 and 14, are plan view and side elevation, respectively, of the shank of one coupler;

Fig. 15 is a horizontal section view on line' XV-XV of F ig. 16 on a slightly enlarged scale and through the guard arm, and

Fig. 16 is a side elevation of the guard arm shown in Fig. 15 on a slightly reduced scale.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, A and B designate two ymating couplers embo'dying my invention and, as they are idenvltical in general construction only one of them will be described.

Each coupler comprises a shank which attached te the draft rigging on the car and has its center line substantially coinciding with the center line of draft. At its outerend the shank 10 has a head 10 for engagement with the guard arm and the knuckle as will be more fully described later on. The head 10 comprises a central ear 11 with a perforation 12 to receive the knuckle pin 48. rojecting from both sides of the ear 11 are shoulder portions 13 (Figs. 2, 13 and 14) having walls 14 and 15 which are concentric with the perforation 12. Approximately in the center of the head 10 there is an aperture 16 of a size to receive the portion 63 Aof the locking key 62. (See Fig. 7).

' rEhe head 10 of the shank 10 is embraced by the guard arnr 17 shown in detail in Figs. and 16. rlfhis guard arm consists of atop part 18, a botom part 19 and a connecting web 20. The inner faces of the top and' bottom portions 18 and 19 are provided with raised portions of shoulder portions 21 and 22 anda perforation 23. rlhe shoulder portions 21 and 22 have walls 24 and 25, respectively, which are concentric with the aperture As will appearv from Fig. 2 the walls 24 and 15 of the guard arm 17 and head 10 of the shank 10, respectively, admit of slightv pivotal motion while they positively prevent separation of the shank 10 with its head 10 and guard arm 17 away from each .other in the line of draft.

The walls of the guard arm 17 and the walls 14 of the shank head 10 as is clearly shown in Fig. 2, are in alineinent and toc gcther with the inner faces of the portions 18 and 19 and the ear 11 of the shank head 10 .form receptacles for the knuckle 26.

' The knuckle 26 consists of the jaw 27, upper and lower pintle portions 28, 28 (see Figs. 2 and 11) adapted to have pivotal motion in the space defined by the walls 14 knuckle 26 are in assembled relation,` theyare pi'votally connected together by the knuckle pin 48, the axis of which is located to one side of the center line of draft.v r[he pin 48 is heldA in place by a head 49 at theA upper end thereof and bearing against the top cart 18 of the guard ar1n-17 and a spring cotter pin 50 fitting in a hole at the lower end of the pinY 48 and bearing against the bottom part 19erv the guard arm- 17. By connecting the parts in this mannerthe guard arm and knuckle are very readily de'- tachable from the shank head 10 by re-` moving the cotter pin 50 and driving out the pin 48.

1 will now proceed' te describe my novel` means for locking and unlocking the knuckle in an efficient andn reliable and' yet simple manner.

My lock comprises principally the upper and lower locking arms 29and 30 integral with the knuckle 26 and a locking key 62 extending through the registering upper and lower' apertures 18 and 19 in the-guard arm 17 and aperture 16 of the shank head 10', and intercepting the path of movement of the arms 29 and 30. 1n` Fig. 4 the knuckle' 26 isshown in inoperative or unlocked posiv tion. The arm 30, which is the lower and shorter of the two arms, is shown turned away from the locking pin or key 62. 1n Fig. 3 the knuckle isshown in operative or locked position, the arm 36 is engaged in a recess 32 and the locking key 62 holds the arm in this position and with it the knuckle in its operative position.

In order to facilitate the unlocking of 4the knuckle 1 have provided'v a pawl mechanism 33. This mechanism is housed in a recess 34 in innerI face of the bottom part 19 of the guard arm 17 (see FiO. 15) and; comprises essentially a lever 35 see Figs. 7 and 8) pivoted at 36 in the bottom part 19I of the guard arm 17. rl`helever carries a pin 37 which extends through said opening'i36 and is held in place by a cotter pin- 38.- At one end the lever carries a projectiony 392 eX- tending upwardly out of the recess 34 and into the path of movement of the inner edge of the arm 30. Atthe other end the lever 35 carries a tang 40 extending into the pathof the key 62. The key 62 has at its lower end a diagonal groove 65 terminating in a vertical groove 64 so proportioned and arranged that upon a lifting of the key 624 the'tang is forced along the grooves 64 and This is made possible by removing a portion of the key as shown at 66. In the locking positionthe portion 63 of the ke 62 positively locks the arm 30 in place. hen the key 30 is raised the portion 66 is brought opposite the arm 30 and as the lever 35 is turned through the agency of groove the arm passes the cut away portion 66 and the jaw 27 is opened.

As previously mentioned the upper arm 29 is similar to lower arm 30 and differs therefrom only in that its extremity is provided with a lateral projection or extension 29 of such length that, after the body of the arm 29 has passed the key 62 in its out.- ward swing, it remains in contact with the shoulder 68 of the key 62 (see Figs. 6, 11 and 12) and thus prevents the key 62 from dropping, while the knuckle is in its inopere ative or unlocked position.

In order to couple up two cars, it is only necessary to bring the jaw 27 in interlocking engagement with the mating coupler and when the coupling position is reached, the arms 29 and 30 assume their limiting positionshown in Figs. 3 and 5, and the key 62 drops automatically to its lower position shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 5.

After the locking key 62 has assumed its lower position shown in Fig. 2, and the locking arms 29 and 30 of the knuckle 26 are engaged respectively by the unner and lower sections 62 and 63 of the key 62, (see Figs. 3, 5, 6 and 7 and said sections 62 and 63 of the key 62 are also held against rotation respectively in the upper and lower apertures 18 and 19 of the guard arm 17, the knuckle 26 and guard arm 17 will be firmly locked together. Said guard arm 17 and knuckle 26 in this locked condition are capable of swingingtogether as a whole on the knuckle pin 48 as a center as indicated in dotted lines and through an arc C as shown to right in Fig. 1. Since the pin 48 passes through perforation 12 in the ear 11 of the fixed shank head 10', and the cut out or reduced section 67, of the key 62, (see Fig. 7 registers with the aperture 16 in the shank head- 10 (see Fig. 13), when guard arm 17 and knuckle 26 are locked together, said key 62 locked with the guard arm 17 and knuckle 26, is capable of having a movement with respect to the shank head 10 in the aperture 16,`through an arc, described from the same center, namely, the center of the perforation 12v and corresponding to the same movement of' arc as the knuckle 26 and guard arm 17 described on the pin 48, as previously explained. n

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have designed a coupler which will work in harmony with the Master Car Builders standard couplers and have incorporated means for having the guard arm 17 and the shank 10 pivotally and detachably connected as shown at B, tothe right of Fig. 1, thus allowing these parts to move relative to each other when the cars pass around a curve and avoiding all undue strain in the coupler structure. I do not limit myself to this particular construction and arrangement, however, as the guard arm 17 and shank 10 may be rigidly connected or cast in one piece, if so desired, as shown for eX- ample at A, to the left of Fig. 1, instead of flexiblv connected as shown at the right at B, without departing from the spirit of my invention, and in these respects is similar to my improvements in car couplers shown and described in application for patent, Serial No. 45,482, filed by me August 4, 1915.

While I have made the guard arm and shank detachable I have not sacrificed the strength and pulling capacity of the old type of coupler, because the shoulders 15 and 24 on the shank head 10 and guard arm l17, respectively, have a shearing strength far in excess of any force acting on the couplers in practical use.

Particular' attention is directed to the construction of providing the knuckle 26, with two separated pintle or pivot portions 28 and 28 which in conjunction with the shoulders 15, 15, of the projecting lugs or portions 13, 13 of the shank head 10 engaging the shoulders 24, 24, on the guard arm 17 places the knuckle pin 48 in quadruple shear as best shown in Fig. 2, a most important feature of the present invention and a de cided improvement on former types of couplers wherein the knuckle pin is only in double shear and cause of many knuckle pins and couplers being broken.

From the construction of providing two pintle or pivot portions 28 and 28 on the knuckle 26, also enables me to provide and distribute on said knuckle in a most advantageous manner, upper and lower locking arms 29 and 30, which engage the locking pin or key 62 at distinct and separated upper and lower sections in order not only to firmly secure the upper and lower sections of the knuckle 26 to the head 10 and guard arm 17, but at the same time properly and uniformly distribute the draft strain on upper and lower sections or separated sections of the locking pin 0r key 62, instead of only at one point or its middle section as is at present done in this class of inventions, so that should one locking arm be broken or defective, 'the other arm will be enabled to hold the couplers together. Furthermore, the distributing of the draft strain at separated upper and lower sections of the locking key or pin 62, guard arm 17 shank head 10 and knuckle 26, approaches or more nearly attains a uniform mechanical balance throughout the various parts of the coupler not secured in similar devices noW in use.

It will also be readily seen from the foregoing disclosure, that all the objects and advantages herein pointed out and referred to in the statement ,of invention are most eiliciently carried out.

All these features above enumerated adapt my coupler to better withstand the strains arising in practical use and to be quickly and easily attached to and detached from mating couplers.

While I have shown and described the construction in detail, I do not Want to -be limited to the exact forms shown, since they are for purposes of illustration only and maybe modified in various Ways without departing fromthe scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

l. In a draft coupler, the combination of a shank adapted for attachment to a car, :a guard arm, a knuckle, means for 'detachably conncting said guard .arm and knuckle vto said shank, .said connection being located -to one side of the center line .of draft and means on the shank, knuckle and guard arm for admitting of relative movement of the knuckle and guard arm in the shank 'transversely of the yline of draft and transmit the pull on the knuckle to the shank.

2. In a draft coupler, the combination of a shank adapted for attachment to a car, a guard arm, a knuckle, means for detachably connecting said guard arm and knuckle to said shank, said connecting .means being lo cated to one side of the center line-of a draft, and means on the shank, knuckle and guard arm for admitting of pivotal movement VAolf the guard arm and knuckle on the shank and transmit the pull on the knuckle to the shank.

3. In a draf-t coupler, the combination lof a shank adapted for attachment lto a car, Ia guard arm, a knuckle, `means for interconnecting said shank, guard arm and knuckle, and means on the guard arm, knuckle and shank for admitting of relative movement of the guard arm and knuckle `on the shank transversely of the line of draft and transmit the pull on the knuckle tothe shank.

4f.. In a draft coupler, the combination of a shank adapted for attachment to a car, a guard arm, a knuckle, one single means for interconnecting said shank, guard arm and knuckle, and means on the guard arm, knuckle and the shank for admitting of relative movement of the knuckle and guard arm on the shank transversely of the line of draft and transmit the pull on the knuckle tothe shank.

5. In a draft coupler, the combination of a shank adapted for attachment to a car, a guard arm, a knuckle, perforations through the shank, knuckle, and the guard arm nor- 6. In ,a draft coupler,v 'the {combination l:of

a .shank yadapted for attachment to a zcar, a guard arm, a knuckle, lperforations through the shank, knuckle, and the :guard arm ,nor-l mally in alinement, raised and lcopleiating portions on the shank, yknucklewaand guard arm so constructed `as yto afford a pivotalfmotion between the guard arm and knuckle on the 'shank and transn'xit the pull on the knuckle to the shank, andfmeans extending through Vall of said perforatio'ns to 'holdthe shank, guard armxand knuckle togetherl 7. .In la .draft coupler, the combination of a shank adapted for attachment 4to a car, the shank being provided with .a central` ear, Ia` perforation through the ear, raised portions to both sides of the lears Ahas/'ing Walls :concentric lwith they perforation, a Vguard arm comprising upper zand lower members to 1embrace the ear of the shank, a perforation through these Imembers adapted toaline withl the perforation in .the ear of the shank, raised portions on the inner faces of the said members :having Walls' concentric With the perforation and adapted to register with l.the Walls `of the ear .of the shank and a pin extending throu -h all of fsaid `perforations- 8..In la draft coupler, the combination of a shank adapted `for attachment to a car', a guard arm, a knuckle, raisednand coperating portions on the guard arm, knuckle and shank for admitting of lrelativefmo'tion lof the guard arm `and knuckle on the lshank transversely of they line of draft :and transmit `the pull on the knuckleto :the shank, a plurality Aof vertically spaced ears on the guard arm, a plurality of spaced ears on the' knuckle to lit between the ears of the guard arm, and a single means for pivotally =interconnecting `the shank, guard larm and knuckle.

9. In a draft coupler, the combination of a shank adapted for attachment to a-car, a guard arm, a knuckle, -coper'ting means on the guard arm, knuckle and the shank for admitting of relative .motion lof the yguard arm and knuckle on the shank transversely of the line of draf-t and transmit thepull on the vknuckle to the shank, a vcentralearon the shank, .a plurality of outervertically spaced ears on the guard arm, a plurality yof verti# cally spaced ears on the*knuckle-to itsbetween the before mentioned ears on the shank and guard arm, and one singlemeans for pivotally interconnecting the earsxon the shank, guard 'arm `and knuckle.

10. In a draft coupler, the combination of a shank adapted for attachment to a car, a guard arm, a knuckle, coperating and raised portions on the shank, knuckle and guard arm for admitting of pivotal motion of the guard arm and knuckle on the shank and transmit the pull on the knuckle to the shank, a central ear on the shank, a plurality of vertically spaced ears on the guard arm, a plurality `of vertically spaced ears on the knuckle, a single means for pivotally interconnecting all the before-mentioned ears, and means for locking the knuckle to the guard arm.

11. In a draft coupler, the combination of a shank having a head, a guard arm, a knuckle, said guard arm and knuckle pivoted to said shank head by 'a single pin, said knuckle provided with upper and lower locking arms, and a locking key engaging at separate points said upper and lower ocking arms of the knuckle.

12. In a draft coupler, the combination of a shank having a head, a guard arm, a knuckle pivoted to said guard arm and shank head and provided with upper and lower locking arms, a locking key passing through said guard arm and shank head and engaging at separated points said upper and lower locking arms, said upper locking arm adapted to support the key in its raised position when the knuckle is unlocked.

13. In a draft coupler, the combination of a shank having a head, a guard arm, a knuckle pivoted to said guard arm and shank head and provided with upper and lower locking arms, a locking key passing through said guard arm and shank head and engaging at separated points said upper and lower locking arms, said lower locking arm adapted to be engaged by means operated by the key when elevated to throw the knuckle in dis-engaged `or open position.

1-1. In a draft coupler, the combination of a shank having a head, a guard arm, a knuckle pivoted to said guard arm and shank head and provided with upper and lower' locking arms, a locking key passing through said guard arm and shank head and engaging at separated points Said upper and lower locking arms, said upper locking arm.

arm and knuckle pivoted to said shank head by a single pin, a locking key passing through said guard arm opening and shank head Iaperture and .rigidly .engaging Ithe guard arm and locking arm of the knuckle and having a limited lateral movement in the shank head aperture with respect to the shank head.

16. In a draft coupler, the combination of a shank having a head provided with an aperture, a guard arm having an opening, a knuckle having upper and lower locking arms. said guard arm and knuckle pivoted to said -shank head by a single pin, a locking key passing through said guard arm opening and shank head aperture and rigidly engaging the guard arm and locking arms of the knuckle and having a limitedlateral movement in the shank head aperture with respect to the shank head.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM F. CREMEAN.

Witnesses:

DONALD BoYLn, W. H. WoLrn.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

